Thursday, September 04, 2014

Enemies of the Body State

Healthy eating comes in many guises. You can go from eating lots of standard fruit and veg plus meat (if you're not a veggie) from the supermarket to eating more and more organic produce and better quality meat, to eating totally organic. For some people, a vegetarian or vegan diet is the healthiest; for others, including meat is essential. Some even decide to adopt a totally raw food diet.

Never one for extremes, I like to pick and mix, but I'm becoming more and more aware that eating gluten and dairy produce is not good for you. This morning, I got an email from a newsletter I subscribe to (SanteNatureInnovation) which convinced me even more.

Apparently, giving up dairy and gluten for three months can be a life-changing experience for those who don't know they are intolerant. They regain their energy and morale; sleep well, feel good, and lose weight. Their hair looks better, and their pains and fatigue disappear.

Historically, people turned to wheat and dairy because they were not expensive, so they incorporated them into as many recipes as possible. Unfortunately, humans can't digest lactose in milk very well, and the protein casein provokes intolerance and allergies. As for calcium, only 30% is absorbed, so it's not such a brilliant body-builder after all! Wheat is poor in nutrients, containing starch (sugar), and some protein of which mainly gluten which 15% of the population is intolerant to, and a bit of fat in the germ.

Those who are intolerant to either or both know just how bad it can get (like this professional ballerina). The intestines get inflamed, become porous, and let proteins pass into the blood which set off inflammatory and auto-immune reactions throughout the body.

I'm not particularly intolerant to either, although I do burp after I eat bread (and it's probably getting worse), but I'm interested in what I can replace them with. I've started using different flours (buckwheat, chickpea, rye), in muffins, tarts and cookies, but I want to know more, and I don't want to spend (even more) hours finding out.

The newsletter invites us to register for a cookery course called Naturacook given (in French) by Benjamin Dariouch, founder of Naturacoach. It teaches the secrets of tasty eating gluten- and dairy-free, and how to use properly the different flours that are available. It's on for four months and is delivered through videos which can be watched and re-watched, plus pdf versions of the 120 basic recipes, the possibility to ask Ben questions, and how to transform normal recipes to gluten-/dairy-free.

I was asked recently to find out about cookery courses for an American couple who wanted to come to Montpellier for a couple of weeks. I was quite surprised at how much they cost. This course is €37/month for four months which I reckon is a good buy. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm with you all the way on gluten, convinced that it is enemy No. 1. Looking at wheat growing in the fields now, it bears almost no resemblance to the wheat of even ten years ago.It's become a man-made product, and who knows what it really is? I've been trying to give it up and have been experimenting with different flours with reasonable results, especially with pancakes and pastry, but find it becomes complicated when you have frequent guests, as we do, who want 'proper' bread and I end up buying loaves and of course eating them. And find the more you eat of them, the more you want. I'm not sure whether it's just the gluten or the flour in itself which is the enemy. I also agree on the dairy question, but being a non-meater - a less inflammatory statement than 'vegetarian' :), it does drastically reduce ones options. It isn't surmountable, but does require quite a bit more time and effort to produce meals, especially when time is very limited. I'll be interested on your feedback about the course.

I love both wheat and dairy and seem to be able to eat them without problems. I read an interesting book by a master baker who believes that it is modern industrial bread-making which is one of the main culprits for the increasing incidence of gluten intolerance, since the unnaturally rapid process (one hour including cooking!) doesn't allow the yeast time to alter the gluten as it would in traditionally-made bread.

I also think that moderation is key. That said, I don't have any more eczema since I stopped eating bread. We are all different, and I suppose that some of us are more gluten/diary intolerant than others.

I first went Dairy and Gluten free 20 years ago when I suffering a systemic candida problem. Within a week I felt like a new woman and still try to avoid both, but have got a bit more relaxed with it, just as it's becoming fashionable. Wheat is genetically modified so that rodents can't break it down, and it means we can't either. You're right about the spelt - original wheat. As for milk, it's so full of hormones and antibiotics that it doesn't really bear thinking about - although it's hard to think of chocolate like that. We can now easily buy Almond Milk and Oat Milk as well as Soya and you can probably get delicious sheeps cheese like Rocquefort locally? Good luck with it. I lived on omelettes and brown rice, fish and chips and bacon and egg and loads of lovely salad so am sure you'll enjoy it once you get the hang of it and feel the benefits! x

Nowadays it's not so difficult to maintain a fairly healthy diet. Stay away from all the junk food out their. We eat a fresh salad every day for dinner, along with loads of fresh fruits and veggies. Our little one loves fresh veggies. In Kuwait, I lost count of how much water I consumed on a daily basis, which is also very important for a healthy diet.